When Warner Bros. Discovery formed DC Studios and James Gunn and Peter Safran joined to deliver a unified experience of movies, TV, gaming and comics, fans saw the writing on the wall: The company was going all out with its treasure trove of superhero characters. They weren't wrong. DC Studios announced a powerful slate in 2023, promising exciting new adventures. While a big part of that slate did not materialize, what didn't come to fruition has been gradually replaced by new projects.
The franchise has now delivered three installments (two shows in Creature Commandos and Peacemaker, and one film, Superman). It also has an impressive incoming slate comprised of the sci-fi epic Supergirl, the HBO crime series Lanterns, and the horror feature Clayface. The universe will expand even further with 2027's Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow. Turns out, though, Warner Bros. has even bigger plans for the already ambitious franchise.
In a profile published by Bloomberg, James Gunn, Peter Safran and David Zaslav provided fascinating information about DC Studios and the DCU. Among that info was the company's ambitious plans for its superhero properties. WBD intends to take full advantage of its IP. Per the report, James Gunn and Peter Safran are taking a page out of the Marvel Studios handbook, and want their DC Studios offerings to open commercial avenues outside of the streaming and theatrical business.
As Zaslav explained: "The DC Universe is big enough and strong enough that it should be available on all platforms. There are some stories that are important to be told in theaters around the world, and some stories that are important to be told as series."
What do these "commercial avenues" refer to? To bringing DC's best and brightest heroes into the real world—specifically, to theme parks. As mentioned by Bloomberg, WBD was recently in negotiations with Comcast to develop sections and new roads based on DC characters at Universal theme parks. Still, DC reportedly has its sights on a much larger project.
According to the outlet, the company is coming up with ideas to build whole life-size blocks of Metropolis and Gotham, which would include pivotal locations and businesses (as life-size buildings) from the DC universe (The Penguin's Iceberg Lounge possibly being one). In corporate mergers, plans prior to the company getting acquired usually fall by the wayside as the new management is eager to step in and leave their mark on their new purchase as quickly as possible.
In the case of Warner Bros. Discovery, however, it seems its vision for capitalizing on recognizable IP is shared by its new owner. In a conference call with investors following the sale announcement, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos stated the following: "You should think about ways that you can explore all these IP universes beyond that of just making tentpole movies. Examples would be some of the earlier moves from the DC Universe for things like Penguin [which was] turned into great television."
Sarandos spoke specifically about television, but it seemed to have been just one example in the possibilities available to capitalize on the DC IP. Netflix has also made efforts to market its intelectual property outside of media. Some examples include producing toys for shows like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, a surprise concert from some of the KPop Demon Hunters stars in New York City, and in a smaller scale, promoting the real-life locations of KPop Demon Hunters to further immerse consumers in the world of the film.
The power of the DC brand is known around the industry. Bloomberg explained that, though James Gunn and Peter Safran weren't "a direct part" of the negotiations to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, DC itself was a pivotal part of the takeover strategy for Netflix, Comcast and Paramount. The latter's CEO, David Ellison, even saw the brand as an integral factor in his plan to release 30 movies a year through WBD and Paramount.
Furthermore, speaking to Bloomberg, media industry analyst at LightShed Partners Rich Greenfield spoke about DC's financial promise: "DC is probably the single greatest opportunity in this transaction. [...] DC has been one of the most undermonitized franchises in all of Hollywood, and while it's certainly showing signs of life, it's still a tiny fraction of where Marvel got to under Disney."
Well, it looks like WBD is working on fully taking advantage of the superhero IP at its disposal.
The next installment in the DCU, Supergirl, will be released on June 26, 2026.
What do you think about DC's ambitious plans for the future? Would you like to see a life-size recreation of the DC Universe? Drop your thoughts in the comments!